Tyler's Dilemma Part One - 2. Part One: Smells Like Paint Spirit

Tyler Scott had known Brandon Myers for most of his life. And considering Brandon avoided most social interactions with pretty much everyone he half expected the door to be slammed in his face before he could utter a single word. So he quickly pulled the bag from his coat and held it up. He said with a grin, “I bring libation.”

Brandon peered up at him through blue strands of hair that seemed to perpetually fall into his eyes. He brushed the sweaty strands aside with a paint stained hand and grabbed the bag. He looked inside and his eyes lit up. He turned around and disappeared inside the attic room.

Tyler figured since Brandon had left the door open, he would take that as an invitation to enter. When he stepped inside, an overwhelming aroma of paint thinner and fresh paint assaulted him. He shut the door behind him and curiously looked around the large open space.

The room was littered with used paint tubes, piles of trash, and assorted canvases in varying stages of completion stacked sometimes five deep against the walls. Dirty clothes were thrown about the room seemingly at random and an unmade twin bed was shoved against the far corner of the room.

On the opposite side of the room, two large easels were set up in front of two large windows. Next to the easels was a table filled with cans of paint and a tub of paint thinner with about two dozen brushes soaking. A paint roller teetered on the edge of the table dripping fresh paint onto the hardwood floor. In the corner a tall metal rack was filled with paint cans, extra brushes, and spray cans with new canvases.

It was also unbearably hot and somehow humid. Tyler immediately broke out in a sweat and he unzipped his coat. He asked, “How can you stand this? It’s like walking into a furnace.

Brandon grunted as he pulled out a half full bottle of Jack Daniel and said, “It helps keep the paint at the right consistency.”

“It might also explain why your eyes are always glassy,” Tyler said with a grin. “I’m getting high just smelling the paint fumes.”

“Maybe, if you mixed that with a bunch of weed,” Brandon said absently as he unscrewed the whiskey. He took a big gulp directly from the bottle and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He asked, “So what’s the occasion.?”

Tyler took off his coat and looked around for a clean place to put it down. He couldn’t really find a place so he draped it over his shoulder ands said, “Maybe I felt like having a drink with a friend.”

“Since when are we friends?” Brandon challenged him.

“I’ve known you for thirteen years.”

Brandon snorted and then took another drink. He offered the bottle to Tyler as he declared, “Friends that does not make us.”

Tyler took a drink and grimaced as the liquid burned his throat. He walked around the room and pretended to study the various paintings. After a moment he said, “I like what you did to this space, reminds me if Mad Max and Auntie Entity had a child.”

“It’s a place to paint,” Brandon informed him as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tyler noticed Brandon had some red paint dried across the side. He asked, “How do you sleep in this mess?”

“Normally on my side,” Brandon muttered as he stomped over to grab the bottle from Tyler’s hand. He took another gulp and asked, “What do you want? And don’t tell me you wanted to drink with me. You haven’t said more than two words to me in, well, three years and seventeen days.”

“Stop exaggerating,” Tyler said as rolled his eyes dramatically.

“It was Wednesday, we were standing in the hallway, you wore blue jeans with a brown oversized sweater, and you told me see you after class. Then you never said a word for a year,” Brandon declared flatly.

“That’s right, I forgot I was talking to a supercomputer with hyperamnesia,” Tyler said sarcastically as he decided the safest place to put his coat would be on the bed.

“It’s not hyperamnesia jackass, it’s hyperthymesia,” Brandon corrected him with a frown. “I am surprised you even remembered that. But I ask you again, why are you here after all this time?”

Tyler wiped the sweat from his eyes and replied with a grin, “Well, I said see you after class, and it’s definitely after that class.”

Brandon laughed genuinely for the first time that night and he blurted out, “That’s a fucked up definition of semantics.”

“Considering semantics is arguing something irrelevant or unknowable, I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong word,” Tyler argued with a gleam in his eye. “I would say the super computer just made a fallacy.”

Brandon pushed the clothes off a nearby chair and sat down with his legs spread open. He absently rubbed his crotch and asked, “Just cut the shit, what do you want?”

Tyler ran his hand through his short brown hair and admitted, “I’m not really sure.”

To avoid further discussion, Tyler pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it atop his coat as he muttered, “It’s really fucking hot in here.”

Brandon’s eyes flickered over Tyler’s smooth body and toned chest appreciatively. He had always found Tyler to be the hottest boy in school with his messy hair and bright blue eyes. And when Tyler smiled, which was often, he had the cutest dimples.

When Tyler was younger, his only flaw, if you could call it that, was always a bit too skinny for his tall frame. But he had really filled out since the last time Brandon saw him without a shirt.

“As much as I enjoy a half naked boy in my room, especially ones bearing libation, I still have to wonder why now, after all this time,” Brandon said suspiciously.

“You’ve seen me more naked than this,” Tyler said with a chuckle.

“True,” Brandon admitted with a devilish grin, like he was remembering that exact moment. “But the last time I saw you fully naked, you didn’t look anything like you do now.”

Tyler reached for the bottle and took another drink before he said bluntly, “I always knew you were gay, even when we were kids. I knew.”

“And yet you still let me sleep in your bed, how progressive.”

Tyler waved his hand dismissively as he said, “I never cared about that. Never really understood why everyone gave you shit about who you like to fuck.”

“They had to give me shit about something,” Brandon replied as he pushed the hair from his eyes.

“Well, it wasn’t like you didn’t lean into it,” Tyler accused as he gestured to Brandon’s hands. “With painting your nails, wearing eye makeup.”

“Wearing makeup doesn’t make you gay,” Brandon said as he peered at Tyler intently. “I mean, sucking dick behind the gym makes you gay, but not makeup.”

“What about letting a guy suck your dick?” Tyler asked suddenly. “Does that make you gay?”

Brandon studied him very carefully before he said softly, “I guess it depends on the motivation behind allowing a guy to suck your dick.”

“Motivation might factor into something like that,” Tyler mused aloud before he took another drink.

Brandon noticed that this time, the drink was way bigger than his previous sips. He decided to keep his suspicions to himself and instead walked over to his nightstand. He pulled out a clear plastic bag and asked, “I was about to light up, care to join me?”

“For sure,” Tyler answered quickly. He was happy to change the subject so he plopped down on the bed next to Brandon with an eager grin.

The moment Tyler sat down, a strong smell hit his nostrils. He asked with a frown, “Don’t you ever wash your sheets?”

Brandon stopped cleaning a small metal pipe, looked down, took a whiff and shrugged. “It’s not that bad.”

“Oh really?” Tyler exclaimed and then inhaled deeply. “It’s like a mix of unwashed ass and dried cum.”

“Stop insulting my domicile or I won’t let you suck on my pipe,” Brandon replied dryly as he began packing the small pipe. Apparently, Tyler seemed to miss the double entendre.

“If it smells anything like your sheets, that might not be a bad thing,” Tyler quipped as he placed the almost empty bottle of whiskey on the floor between his feet.

Brandon ignored him and brought the light to the pipe and inhaled deeply. He held in the smoke as long as he could as he passed the pipe to Tyler. Tyler grinned and took a huge hit himself and shut his eyes to relish in the ritual of getting high.

They sat in silence as they passed the pipe between them until it was finished. Brandon put the pipe back inside the drawer and fell back on the bed with a contented smile on his face.

Tyler grabbed the bottle and took another swig as he complained, “It’s really hot in here.”

“You’re a wuss,” Brandon said lazily as he rubbed small circles over his stomach.

Tyler pushed himself back until he was leaning against the wall with his feet dangling off the edge of the small bed. He placed the bottle between his legs and said, “That’s really strong weed, where’d you get it?”

Brandon scooted back until he leaned against the wall next to Tyler. He reached over to grab the bottle and said with a mysterious smile, “I have my ways.”

Between the whiskey and the pot, Tyler began to feel more relaxed. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and studied the boy next to him. Brandon’s normally spiky hair was longer than usual and had just a hint of curls he had never noticed before.

Brandon had always been small, with a slender frame and narrow hips but over the last few years he had gained some muscle definition and his chest was nicely defined. As Brandon drummed lightly on his stomach with paint stained fingers, Tyler found a new appreciation of the male form.

Tyler hadn’t thought about Brandon in years and it was really nothing more than a whim that had brought him here tonight. Why he’d sought out the boy’s company above anyone else was a mystery.

He had never treated Brandon poorly when they stopped talking, he just kind of distanced himself as their paths seemed to diverge. It was one day Brandon was beside him and the next he stopped acknowledging the boy’s existence.

“So what did you really come over to talk about?” Brandon asked suddenly, though his eyes were still closed.

“I’m not really sure to be honest,” Tyler answered quietly.

“Yes you are,” Brandon accused him bluntly as he opened his eyes to peer over at him. “You just don’t know how or even if you want to tell me.”

“That’s true,” Tyler admitted with a sheepish grin. “I guess I’m still trying to sort it out myself.”

“What did you do?” Brandon asked as he straightened up to give the boy his full attention. “Or maybe the better question, who did you do?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“You haven’t changed that much in three years.”

“And seventeen days,” Tyler interjected with a grin.

Brandon ignored that and continued, “We both know you fucked enough girls in your life that you would not seek out my company to discuss that particular topic.”

Tyler took a deep breath and said, “I let someone suck my dick tonight in the bathroom at Breakers Beach.”

“Popular glory hole,” Brandon said with a laugh. “Though normally, I’m the one sucking the dick.”

Tyler demanded with a frown,” Will you be serious?”

“Promise,” Brandon said with a smirk. “Was he at least cute?”

“I don’t fucking know. I didn’t see if he was old, young, black, white, and that’s so not the point,” Tyler blurted out as he shook his head. “It was the reason I let a guy suck my dick that’s bothering me.”

“The reason?” Brandon asked incredulously as he swiped his hair back. “Your dick gets hard, it needs to be sucked. What other reason could there be?”

“I kind of lost a bet with Devin and the result was I had to let a guy blow me through a glory hole,” Tyler admitted sheepishly.

“You do know there are much easier ways to experiment with gay sex nowadays other than “losing” a bet,” Brandon said with a grin. “Have you ever of Wolfe?”

“I didn’t throw the bet,” Tyler explained flatly. “The penalty wasn’t added until after I had already lost anyway, but now that it’s over…”

“You feel icky?” Brandon chimed in as he rubbed his cheek thoughtfully.

“No.”

“Oh, so it’s because you liked it,” Brandon mused before he took another drink. “And you’re worried what that makes you.”

“Maybe,” Tyler muttered as he grabbed the bottle roughly from Brandon’s hand.

“What’s the big deal?” Brandon asked as he waved his hand around. “You’ve heard the rumors about me, right?”

“How you blow boys behind the gym?”

Brandon winced but continued, “Do you think any of those boys are gay?”

Tyler shrugged.

“Just because someone lets a dude suck their dick doesn’t make them gay, that makes them horny,” Brandon explained with an amused smile. “And every one of them enjoyed it because I suck a mean cock.”

Tyler laughed and asked with a grin, “Why do you only suck the mean ones? Why not the nice ones or the indifferent ones?”

Brandon stared at him blankly and Tyler’s grin faded as he said, “I guess the truth is, I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did.”

Brandon kept silent for a moment as things began to fall into place like pieces of a puzzle. He asked softly, “Do you mean the blowjob was amazing and you liked that? Or did you mean you liked the fact that a guy was sucking your cock?”

“I think that one,” Tyler answered cryptically.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Brandon admitted after a moment. “Only you know the answer to that.”

Tyler forced himself to look at Brandon who had gone back to leaning his head back with this eyes closed. Other than some hair under his arms, Brandon was almost hairless. Even his legs only had a light dusting on his shins that was almost invisible. He smelled of paint thinner and someone who hadn’t showered recently, like stale sex.

It dawned on him that he could smell Brandon, sitting so close, and it wasn’t something that turned him off either. The only explanation that seemed to fit in his confused mind was Brandon smelled like he should smell. And the longer he breathed in the scent, the more irresistible Brandon became in a sexy weird kind of way. He had never been attracted to the way a boy smelled before.

Tyler saw Brandon almost every day at school. With his bright blue hair it was hard not to notice him. Yet he seemed to float invisibly through the halls neither caring about the horrible things kids said about him nor worrying about trying to fit in any particular group. So when he was reminded how confident the boy was it always kind of surprised him. Brandon was the kind of person that gave no fucks about anything.

Tyler took a deep breath as he stared blankly at the far wall. After a moment, he said casually, “I guess I was hoping you’d be able to help me out with that.”

Brandon laughed bitterly and then said, “I kind of figured you were working up to something like that. Though I had thought better of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tyler asked. His brain was a bit too fuzzy and his thoughts were so jumbled he hadn’t realized how that statement probably sounded.

“You know, all the rumors, so you figured you could just come over and test out your hypothesis on the only gay guy you know,” Brandon explained softly.

Tyler immediately turned red as the realization hit him. He stared at Brandon in shock as he stammered out, “I was just saying…I mean…I wasn’t implying…”

Brandon started laughing so hard his entire body shook. Tyler jumped up and began pacing around the room. His face was red and it only seemed to grow redder the longer Brandon laughed at him. Tyler blurted out, “I knew it was stupid coming over here.”

“You wanted to see if I’d suck your dick while it still had that dude’s spit on it,” Brandon managed to croak out through his laughter.

Tyler’s eyes flashed in anger and he spat out, “I wouldn’t want you anywhere near my dick. You smell like shit and paint thinner. I’d hate to know what your dick smells like right now.”

“Probably like the senior citizen I fucked about five hours ago,” Brandon said as he continued to chuckle. He was genuinely amused. He had never seen Tyler so worked up and it was refreshing to know the boy was at least human in some kind of way. “I can’t believe you actually were thinking what my dick might smell like.”

“You’re an asshole,” Tyler yelled out as he stomped towards the door. He opened it and without a backward glance slammed it shut. But not before he heard Brandon say, “No, like an asshole.”

Brandon had just brought the bottle to his lips when Tyler stormed back inside the room. He looked up at him expectantly so Tyler said, “Fuck you.”

Brandon took a swig and then asked, “Is it a bit cold outside to be running around without a shirt?”

“I left my fucking coat,” Tyler explained as he stomped over to the bed and grabbed his shirt. He pulled it on as he said, “At least I remember why I stopped talking to you.”

“I’m guessing it has something to do with whether or not my dick smells,” Brandon said with a smirk as he rested the bottle between his legs.

Tyler growled and reached for the bottle. Brandon clenched his legs tight around the bottle.

Tyler spat out, “Let go, it’s my fucking bottle.”

“You gave it to me,” Brandon said defiantly as he looked down at Tyler’s hand just inches away from his cloth covered dick. “You’re so close to what you’ve been wondering about all these years. Now’s the chance for you to find out what it smells like.”

Tyler’s eyes darted down to Brandon’s crotch and he muttered, “Fuck you.”

Tyler could tell Brandon wasn’t wearing any underwear under his thin shorts because he could make out every little detail. Then Brandon’s dick jumped and Tyler pulled his hand back with a glare.

Brandon laughed as Tyler turned away in frustration and declared, “You were always an asshole.

Brandon remained silent. He just stared at Tyler with a knowing smile. He was enjoying teasing the boy. After all these years of being ignored, it was nice to have the upper hand for a change.

Tyler pretended to study the paintings that line the walls for a few minutes. He asked suddenly, “What was your first time like?”

“My first time, what?” Brandon asked with a slurred voice.

Tyler whirled around and yelled out, “Your first time with a boy, asshole. What did you think I meant?”

“Who knows with you tonight? You’ve been all over the place, it could have been anything.”

Tyler plopped down on the bed and reached for the bottle again. This time Brandon let him have it and he took a big swig. He exhaled to help relieve the burning sensation in his throat and then he asked softly, “When did you know you were gay?”

“It was in second grade. I was at my neighbor’s house and we accidentally saw his older sister getting railed by her boyfriend. Later on, we were back in my room and he asked me if we could do what his sister had been doing. I kind of understood already that I liked being around boys more than girls so I jumped at the chance. We crawled under my bed and he got on top of me and started humping me through our clothes.”

“Gross, you let a boy hump you under your bed,” Tyler blurted out with a chuckle. “Though, the way you never wash your sheets I’m not surprised.”

“We didn’t want my mom to catch us,” Brandon explained as Tyler continued to laugh. “We knew we’d get in trouble if we got caught. Under the bed was the only place I could think of to go.”

“I guess that makes sense, since you were eight.”

“Seven,” Brandon corrected him absently. “My birthday is in January.”

“That’s right, you were always the youngest in our class.”

“You’re like five months older than me,” Brandon quipped.

“So, you let a boy dry hump you and that’s how you knew.”

“I could list so many things,” Brandon said through a yawn. “I guess you could say I’ve always known.”

“You’re lucky.”

Brandon sat up straighter and stretched before he asked, “You were never even curious about boy’s until tonight?”

Tyler turned and crossed his legs so he could face Brandon. He said carefully, “When I was younger, any sign of skin turned me on. But at night, when I was alone in my bed, boys weren’t really what I was thinking about.”

“Not even when you were in bed with me?” Brandon asked with a feigned hurt look on his face.

Tyler chuckled as he said, “Last time we were in bed together, I was twelve.”

“I was eleven and I was thinking about you,” Brandon admitted with a smug smile.

Tyler shoved him playfully as he said, “That’s kind of sick.”

“What’s sick about it?” Brandon asked softly. “I knew I liked boys. You were there, laying next to me in your little blue superman undies, you were kind of hot back then.”

“Kind of hot?”

“You were a cute kid,” Brandon said as he crossed his legs so he was sitting across from Tyler.

“Were a cute kid?”

“We all have to grow up,” Brandon said with a wry smile.

“So why didn’t you ever try anything with me back then?” Tyler asked as he cocked his head to one side.

Brandon shrugged and said cryptically, “Lot’s of reasons.”

“Like what for an example.”

“For one,” Brandon said as he pushed the hair from his eyes. “By the time I really understood what being gay meant, we didn’t hang out anymore.”

“For two.”

“I kind of thought if I did, you’d punch me in the mouth,” Brandon said with a grin but added warmly. “I don’t hit on straight guys. I let them hit on me.”

“I wouldn’t have punched you,” Tyler said quietly. “I mean, I wouldn’t have dropped on my knees to suck you off or anything. I probably would’ve laughed and walked away.”

“And what about now?” Brandon asked in a quiet hopeful voice.

Tyler thought about it for a moment and grinned as he said, “I still won’t suck your dick.”

Brandon laughed and fell back on the bed, his head hit the pillow and he complained, “Story of my life.”

Tyler gently pushed him towards the wall and then stretched out beside him on the bed. He put his head on the pillow and said, “Jesus, even your pillow smells of dried cum.”

“That’s because I use it to clean my dick off after i cum,” Brandon said through a yawn.

“You really are sick,” Tyler said and then yawned loudly.

“No one is forcing you to stay in my bed,” Brandon reminded him.

“You got me high as fuck,” Tyler accused him. “Do you mind if I stay awhile?”

Brandon yawned again and said sleepily, “Stay as long as you like.”

Tyler grunted as he struggled out of his shirt. He complained softly, “It’s like sleeping in the pits of hell.”

“That’s why I always sleep naked,” Brandon said as he rolled over to face the wall. “But don’t worry, out of respect, I’ll keep my shorts on tonight.”

Tyler looked at Brandon, his eyes followed down the smooth back to where the tops of his ass sloped up and he could just make out the top of Brandon’s crack. He licked his lips and asked, “Did you really fuck a senior citizen tonight?”

“Go to sleep,” Brandon said with a soft chuckle.

Tyler rubbed his eyes and a few moments later, he was fast asleep.